July 26, 2004

Time off

July 13, 2004

Compelling viewing

Millions of Americans go online looking for news that the mainstream media can't give them. A disturbing number specifically want to see graphic images, such as those emerging from the war in Iraq. The Pew Internet & American Life Project has a new report out called The Internet as a Unique News Source. The report claims that 30 million people have seen war images. Of those, a third wish they hadn't looked, with women especially thinking that some images should not be available online. But the appetite for these images is there -- is it because people want to find the truth? Or is it something darker? Find the full report at http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_News_Images_July04.pdf.

Teach yourself multimedia journalism

The Online News Association (http://www.journalists.org/) has built a training module based on four projects that were finalists for 2003 Online Journalism Awards. The module takes users through the processes that the four organisations, one of which was the Los Angeles Times, used to produce their award-winning work. To use the module, you need to go to News University (http://newsu.org/) and 'enrol' - this means registering, after which you can use the module for nothing. The direct link for the module is at http://newsu.org/courses/course_detail.aspx?id=ona1.

July 06, 2004

From the horse's mouth

The United Nations has its own news service for those who want to keep track of its doings. News is available in print, radio, TV and video and digital images. See the range of offerings at http://www.un.org/av/.

All about Europe

The European Policy Institutes Network (EPIN) showcases the research of 28 think tanks in the all-new expanded Europe. You can find research papers, policy and position papers, as well as links to individual think tanks from different countries. EPIN is at http://www.epin.org/index.php.

Direct to UK Government

The red is enough to make you gag, but the UK government's new Directgov gateway to information is still useful. You can find governments A-Z, both local and central, find information by topic, and there is info sorted by categories of users such as parents, motorists, carers and so on. It's at http://www.direct.gov.uk/.

What's on

With religious festivals, sporting events, "this day in history" sites and more, keeping up to date with dates is hard work. Date Dex, one of the busier-looking sites around, can help. It's at http://www.datedex.com/results.asp.

July 02, 2004

Sick kids

More than 3 million children die each year because of unhealthy environments. A new publication from the World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/) looks at why and where this is happening. Inheriting the world: The atlas of children's health and the environment (www.who.int/ceh/publications/atlas/en/index.html) looks at indoor pollution, climate change and sanitation as contributing factors to high death rates. The atlas includes full-colour maps and graphics.

Online terrorism

Media organisations regularly claim that terrorists use the Internet to plan attacks as well as for recruiting or linking up with members. How true is this claim? Is Osama Bin Laden really online? A report from the US Institute for Security Technology Studies (http://www.ists.dartmouth.edu/), entitled Examining the Cyber Capabilities of Islamic Terrorist Groups, looks at these issues in detail. According to the report, "There is clear, factual evidence that Islamic terrorist groups are using information technologies to facilitate propaganda, recruitment and training, fundraising, communications, and targeting operations." The full report can be downloaded for free from https://www.ists.dartmouth.edu/TAG/cyber-capabilities-terrorist.htm.